Barack Obama is still going to be the Democratic candidate for president, right?

It seemed easy to forget that fact watching Tuesday's coverage of the Democratic convention. The focus on Hillary Clinton and how warmly she would embrace her former rival dominated discussion, almost to the exclusion of everything else.

Almost to the minute before she took the stage in Denver, commentators were speculating on whether Clinton would forcefully move her supporters to the Obama camp, or whether the bitterness of a close loss would hold her back. The minute she got off, the disparate analysis began again.

"It turns out the Obama campaign and all the pundits had nothing to worry about," said NBC's Tom Brokaw. "She knew what her job was tonight."

Oh, really?

"She said what she had to say," said Charles Krauthammer on Fox News Channel, "and didn't say any more."

ABC's George Stephanopoulos said he had heard from a prominent campaign supporter who, after watching the speech, remarked that it was a mistake for Democrats not to nominate her.

With the exception of PBS and C-SPAN, the networks treated everything else before Clinton's speech the way a concert audience would treat an unknown opening act. They'd leave their seats for awhile, talk among themselves or show up late.

While Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer was talking, MSNBC's camera was fixed on former President Clinton in the audience. Keith Olbermann noted that Clinton had been passed a sign that proclaimed "unity," then put it down.

ABC kept Schweitzer in the background until Stephanopoulos noted that the governor's speech was getting a better reception from the audience than any other speaker of the night. Even after that, Stephanopoulos and Charles Gibson STILL talked over Schweitzer's words, until deciding to listen in _ just in time for the governor's last lines.

Earlier, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius was making the case for Obama's economic policy from the podium on PBS and C-SPAN, but MSNBC was showing Olbermann and Chris Matthews bickering from their studio outside the Pepsi Center. There was also the comical sight of Olbermann trying to talk while a train at the nearby station constantly blew its whistle.

Pat Buchanan and Rachel Maddow nearly came to blows on MSNBC arguing what Clinton would or would not say.

"You've got to go out there and gut and skewer McCain," Buchanan said, "and I don't think she's going to do that."

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick was talking in the background on NBC when Brian Williams said, "we continue to await the speech of Sen. Clinton." The graphics on the news networks seemed to have the urgency of an approaching hurricane. "Awaiting Hillary Clinton Speech," it said on CNN. "Hillary Clinton Address Moments Away," was the Fox headline.

The only other speaker given much attention was the night's keynoter, former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner. Even then, while the Democratic keynote speaker was at the podium, Fox News Channel cut away for a live interview with the keynote speaker at next week's Republican convention, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

Republicans, in fact, seemed to have fun tweaking their rivals. Giuliani and Mitt Romney both entered the Democratic convention hall for media interviews. Earlier, presumptive GOP nominee John McCain ran an ad with a Clinton delegate saying she was switching to vote for the Republican.

"A lot of Democrats are going to vote for McCain," she said. "It's OK. Really."

CBS' Jeff Greenfield put Clinton's speech in the best historical context. His report talked about convention speeches by vanquished candidates Ronald Reagan in 1976 and Ted Kennedy in 1980, and what they meant for the subsequent campaigns. Katie Couric wondered whether Democrats created an unnecessary distraction for themselves by scheduling the two Clintons on two different nights.

During an interview with Couric, former Hillary Clinton press secretary Lisa Caputo said it seemed like her former boss was still sorting through her loss but would be a strong supporter of the Obama campaign.

"I was with a lot of the Clinton staff this afternoon and I think this is being built up to be much more than it really is," she said.